The Portland daily press. [volume] (Portland, Me.) 1862-1921, 1887-02-26

Under the present law, and with the aid Of
well disposed cltlzens,0 our efficient Health OF
fcer has been able to accomplish great deal
Of really effective and thorough work. From
his report to the Board, make the follow
ing summary, remarking that this by no
means shows the amount OF work actually
accomplished, for the double reason that
much works. done by the Health Officer,
which cannot well be expressed by figures,
and much voluntary work Is done under the
influence Of the board or to avoid complaint,
which II is felt would be made IL action were
not taken to prevent it The good work is
accomplished, although 1t does not appear in
the tabulatiOns of the Board.
The following is a summary Of the work
Of the Health Officer from May /, 1885, to
Feb. Il, 1887, period Of little less than
ten months:
Number of cases receiving special attention. 1907
Number oi prlyy vaults la bad condition.. 919
Number Of vaults overnowing ................ 96
Number Of vaults in good condition .......... 33G
Number Of cellars IN bad condition. 232
Number Of cellars In good cOnditiOn.......... 463
Number Of water closets ordered built and
prtvleS removed. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS. As
Number a stagnant pools filled '... Al
Number OF new vaults built, water closets
impossible there being no sewer ........... 6
Number Of water closets Inspected since
Jan. l, 1887 ........................... 1876
IN sOod conutlon. $50
Number Of bad sink drains, Accommodations :
OF NTH and rubbish ordered fixed or re-
moved ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS. I3G
Number Of bad culverts ordered cleansed 10
Number OF nuisances abated, not classified. 633
This does not include all the visits made
by the officer, for TO procure the abatement
Of some Of the nuisances, three, five or In
some cases more visits are necessary 10 see
that the order given Is attended to In salts
factory manner.
PRIvY VAULTS.
Undoubtedly one Of the greatest nuisances
which we in common with all thickly settled
communities have TO contend with, are the
accumulative privies. There seems to be no
good reason for their continuance s II in any ny
civilized community, and especially there Is
no reason for their existence where there Is a
system OF public sewers. In any form they
are an unmitigated nuisance. When built Of
hard brick and well lined with water proof
cement, they are at their best estate, II
cleaned out and disinfected at proper inter-
walls OF time; but even then they are the
source OF offensive and injurious Od0rs at all
times pernici0us and only tolerated because
use and cont has deadened the senses to
their noxiousness. There Is form Of priyy
w1ittn'fs tf6ubfs 0D1erroinrDrrs Idr It offers
delusive pretence Of being what Il Is not
namely. an improvement on the privy vault
pure and simple, and so leading its owner
into sense Of security. This form Of vault
consists OF an ordinary vault connected with
the public sewer by drain, trapped or un-
trapped, but always invented. In most
cases IL Is connected with the conductors
from the roof and pipes from sinks and bath
rooms, these In many cases also untrapped.
IL is the theory OF those men who put in
such contrivanees that the water thus fur
nished will wash the contents into the sewer
and so preclude the necessity Of cleaning out
the vault. This Is entirely fallaci0us
Drouths occur, and at the best the supply Of
rain water Is small. That from sinks Is in
sufficient and the result Is an accumulation
of filth, which Is stirred up at every shower
and whenever water runs from sinks and
bath rooms. The pipes from the sinks and
baths and conductors serve as media for con-
veying poisonous gases to the interior Of the
house, and living and sleeping rooms receive
these in quantities sufficient to peril the
health of the family. Every vault Of this
construction should be summarily removed
and its place supplied with properly con-
structed water closets.
An enumeration Of the city, approximately
accurate, gives the whole number of build
iugs as 7,1SS. Used for dwellings, 5,997.
Stores, shops, offices, etc. 119l.
return Of the Water Company gives the
number Of houses furnished with water
closets as 4456 There are 97S houses sup
piled with water which have no water
closets. These houses, presumably, are SC
situated as readily TO be connected with the
public sewers, and should be required to re-
place their privy vaults with water closets
| Three hundred and thirty-eight water closets
have been put In during the year.
SEWERS.
The Board of Health is given no authority
/ to supervise or in any way regulate house
i plumbing and drainage or connection OF
drains with public sewers.
Repeatedly In the inspection of houses we
i find plumbing radically defective, and In such
a way as to induce disease, but we can only
| suggest and not direct or compel Houses
furnished with cheap plumbing are nurse
rie. Of disease. BY cheap plumbing we
/ mean work done in an unsanitary manner tO
i &inkS and oil
trapped, leaky pipes and pipes leading into
the drain through an opening made In its
side; water closets fiushed(?) only by watel
from sink or with head Of water not suf
ticient to keep the pipes from f9uling; trapi
upper stories, and other deficiencies to
| numerous 10 mention in this report. 10 is
| proper to say in this connection that when
traps are used they should be kept filed with
| clean water; sufficient water being
| furnished with head enough TO thoroughly
| flush the pipes and clean them, for foul pipes
/ are prolific source OF sewer gas even in a
system of well trapped pipes Many good
| sanitarians consider a thoroughly well
vented system better than one trapped since
| the flow and flushing are not impeded.
| Many persons desir0us of furnishing their
houses with water closets, cannot do so for
want of public sewers In the streets where
| the houses are situated. Exclusive OF the
promenades and ungraded streets the total
| length Of sewerable streets in our city is
! about forty-eight miles. The total length OF
sewers Is thirty-two and 63-100 miles. From
the difference between these fifteen and 81
| 100 miles, should besubtracted those cross
streets which now drain into the lateral
streets, and we have left between six and
seven miles OF streets now built upon or be
ing rapidly occupied, which are without
sewers, a length say of 800 feet.
To show how long IL will probably be be
fore these laps will be closed at the present
rate Of construction, we may state that In
the year 1884 there were built 1888 feet OF
: sewers, in 1895, 2S57 feet and in 1886, 1911
feet. At this rate 1t will be ten years befor'
sewers, actually needed at the present tint
will be built. Nearly 0ne-half Of the sewel
appropriation for the three years mentioned
was used for culverts and repairs and clean
ing old sewers. A very much larger appro
priation Is required to sewer the street,
imperatively needed. An ordinance should
he passed allowing connections to be mad
| with the public sewers only be person
licensed TO do the work and made subject {
inspection from the City Civil Engineer
Office.
GARBAGE.
The collection Of garbage, or rather il
proper collection, has long been matter o
difficulty on the part Of this and forma
health boards. The Board awarded tn
contract for the year for collecting h0us
offal, to Joshua l.. Taylor for $500 for th
year. To say that the work has been salts
factory In all respects Is to say too much fc
complaints have been made throuq
the year, and continue TO be mad
of the character of the servic
Possibly under the present regulations
cannot be well OF satisfactorily done. Cu
toms which have long prevailed seem 10
difficult to break up and supercede. III
collection Of offal by unauthorized person
either to iced swine kept within the city liz
ITS or sold by individuals to milk men an
others. greatly interferes with the regul
collection by the authorized person. Throul